Crumcup strainer and stopper



Feb. 28, 1956 Original Filed May 2, 1951 INVENTOR Charles W Muckeg ORNEYUnited States Patent 1 2,736,040 CRUMCUP STRAINER AND STOPPER Charles W.Mackey, West Cheshire, Conn., assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company,Waterbury, Conn., a

corporation of Connecticut Original application May 2, 1951, Serial No.224,125.

Divided and this application March 26, 1952, Serial No.

2 Claims. (Cl. 4287) This invention relates to a combination crumcupstrainer and stopper for use with waste fittings or the like and is adivision of my application filed May 2, 1951, Serial No. 224,125.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a simplifiedcrumcup strainer and stopper for use in combination with the housing ofa waste fitting and particularly one made with the minimum of parts andeconomical to manufacture. Heretofore a rather complicated mechanism hasbeen used for holding the stopper in an elevated or drained positionwhich mechanism has in some cases been associated with the housing ofthe waste fitting and in other cases with the strainer cup.

To obtain the above objectives I make use of a magnetic memberassociated with the stopper, which member functions to hold the stopperin elevated position by merely contacting a steel member formed as apart of the crumcup strainer and easily released for valve closingposition by a light manual press on the lifter knob.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the reading of the following description.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the preferred embodiment of myinvention showing the stopper in closed position and Fig. 2 is a planview of the waste fitting with a portion broken away to show theinterior construction.

Referring now to the drawing in which like references denote like partsin the several views, the numeral refers to a small portion of a sinkbase having a drain opening neck 11 surrounded by a recessed portion11a. Into this opening is fitted a drain housing 12 having a cylindricalportion 13 and an outwardly extending flange 14 at its upper end that isadapted to fit within the recessed portion 11a. The base of the housing12 is formed with a gradually tapering section 15 and a more abruptlytapering section 16 that terminates in a tubular outlet extension 17. Athreaded collar 18 is permanently secured to the outside of the outletextension 17 and to this collar the usual drain tubing 19 may beattached by the conventional coupling nut 20.

The drain housing 12 is provided with the usual exterior threadedsection 21 to which is threadedly engaged a lock nut 22. When assemblingthe housing 12 to the sink 10 the housing flange 14 is seated in therecessed portion 11a and the lock nut 22 tightened up against the neck11 with an interposed sealing washer 23 therebetween.

In making provision for a combination strainer and stopper for the drainhousing 12 a cupped-shape strainer or basket 31 is provided having theusual outlets 32 in its wall and base portions.

The upper end of the strainer 31 is formed with an outwardly roundedflange 33 that is adapted to seat into an nwardly formed annular recess34 provided in the dram housing between the cylindrical wall portion 13and the flange 14.

A special stopper member 35, preferably made of thin sheet metalmaterial such as brass, is provided. The stopper member 35 is formedwith a central depression 36 and a peripheral inwardly beveled flange37. The beveled flange 37 is designed to seat against the more abruptlytapered base 16 of the. housing 12 to efiect the;

usual seal for the sink. A cylindrical shaped magnet 38 is seated Withinthe depression 36 and permanently held in place by a lift stem 39 thathas a reduced section 40 passing through a suitable hole in the magnetand riveted over against the underside of the stopper 35 as at 41. Thestem 39 is telescopically fitted within a stopper guide 42 that ispermanently secured to the basket as by a flange 43 seated against theunderside of the base of the strainer 31 and an outwardly collapsed rib44 compressed against the opposite side of the strainer base. The upperend of the stem is provided with the usual enlarged head 45 formanipulating the stopper 35 and also serving to retain the stopper withthe crumcup basket or retainer 31 as a unit.

The stopper guide 42 is preferably made of stainless steel and theflange 43 is of suflicient size to assure that the magnet when disposedthereagainst will serve to maintain the stopper in elevated position (asshown in dotted outline in Fig. 1) against the How force of the waterpassing down through the waste tending to disconnect the stopper fromthe crumcup basket.

While it is preferable to make the crumcup basket 31 of brass and thestem guide 42 of stainless steel, it iswithin the purview of theinvention to make the basket and the guide entirely of stainless steelas a single unit. It is also considered that it is possible toincorporate the magnetic element 38 into the base of the crumcupstrainer 31 and make the stopper member 35 of stainless steel andoperate with the same degree of practicalness as the illustrated formdescribed.

While the foregoing description sets forth the invention in specificterms, it is to be understood that changes in shape, size and thematerial may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention as claimed hereinafter.

I claim:

1. A drain assembly comprising, in combination a cupshaped strainerhaving a clearance aperture located in the bottom thereof and a lipprojecting outwardly from the rim for hanging the strainer in a drain; astopper provided with a spindle adapted to extend through the clearanceaperture; and cooperating permanent magnet and armature holding meanscarried by said strainer and said stopper.

2 A drain assembly comprising a waste-fitting body having a valve seat,a strainer basket removable from said body, said strainer basket havingperforated side and base walls, a vertical hollow guide offerro-magnetic material attached to the base wall of said strainer andhaving a flange positioned against the underside of said basket, a sheetmetal stopper having a circumferential inwardly flared edge wall adaptedto serve as a valve and a central socket depression formed in the uppersurface of said stopper, a permanent magnet seated in said socketdepression, the upper surface of said magnet being complementary to thebottom surface of said flange and a stem slidable in said guide, saidstem having a head on one end and the opposite end riveted to saidmagnet and said stopper as a unit whereby said stem and attached stopperare permanently retained with said basket, said magnet being movableinto contact with said flange when said stem is lifted upwardly wherebythere is sulficient magnetic attraction between the flange and magnet tohold the drain valve in open position until said stem is again forciblydepressed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS'

